The Lost Art Of Dreaming Over Maps
byI was talking to my friend Mark about mountain biking a while back when he mentioned linking together a bunch of shorter trails around…
ESSAYS
Don’t Focus On The Dog Shit
byIn the span of a few minutes yesterday morning, I read about a shotgun-wielding man threatening a neighbor teaching his daughter to ride her…
Hiking Is Cool
byDo you ever think hiking doesn’t get much respect anymore? Wait, better question: Remember that hiking film that showed at the Banff Mountain Film…
Tough As A Mother
byMy mom threw up at the climbing gym, just after I lowered her from the top of a route. She came out of the…
What Story Are You Telling Yourself?
byChad Kellogg died in Patagonia on Valentine’s Day this year, at 42 years old. I didn’t know him very well, just through a handful…
How To Climb A Hill
byI was in the audience during a presentation at the Green Mountain College Adventure Education Colloquium last week, when the presenter, Jojo, asked everyone…
The Man’s Guide to Being A ‘Real Man’
byYou probably read a few news stories over the past couple weeks about the rising popularity of beard implants, specifically the $3,000 to $8,000…
The Not-So-Bad Bad Day
byRob at Green Garage in Denver understands the art of telling someone how expensive their car repair is going to be: You can’t deliver…
Semi-Rad.com Is 3 Years Old Today. Thanks For Reading.
byThree years ago, on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2011, I clicked “publish” on a blog post on this web site, and then put a link…
Do Things And Make Things Next Year
byMy parents gave me Brandon Stanton’s Humans of New York book for a holiday gift, and I spent the next hour flipping from cover…
The Grand Canyon Guide To Parent-Child Relationships
byI hopped over a stream crossing the Bright Angel Trail, taking a big step from one rock to the next, then turned around to…
Tyler Durden, Yvon Chouinard, And Growing Up
byI watched Fight Club the other night for the first time in over a decade, out of curiosity if it would still seem as…
A Moab State Of Mind
byI sat under Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, 60 minutes from Moab and 20 miles as the crow flies, on a busy fall…
A Photo Is Worth A Thousand Miles
byMy friends Dan and Janine have made lots of outdoor photos all over the world. You’ve probably seen them in Backpacker, Trail Runner, on…
Sometimes You Get A High-Five From The Universe
byI had about 10 minutes before my flight, enough time to grab one more cup of coffee. I had rushed to finish one more…
How To Friend Someone In Real Life
byI pulled open the garage door on my storage unit in east Denver, smelling the dust that had accumulated during the two months since…
BUT I AM RELAXING
byNick mentioned a hot springs somewhere in southern Colorado, and I suspected it was one of those things he was doing because his girlfriend…
Young Men And Fire
byMy old journalism professor, Michael Downs, sold me on Norman Maclean’s book Young Men and Fire almost 10 years ago when he told me…
You Wonder Why We Don’t Have Nice Things
byI sat down exhausted last Tuesday night next to my friends Chris and Forest in front of a granite shelter we’d just built on…
Please Continue Instagramming Your Amazing Life
byIn April, a piece titled “Stop Instagramming Your Perfect Life” started making its way around Facebook and Twitter. The author raised a point that…
Dads And Dreams
byMy dad told me the other day he’d won a three-day Harley rental at a raffle. I said Dad, I think you have to…
Learning How To Say Yes
byMy friend Forest put this photo on Facebook last December, with this caption: It was a hot day in July. Navigating the lunchtime jumble…
You Can Walk Anywhere You Want
byI flew to Iowa to visit my grandmother in the hospital a couple weeks ago. She’s been in and out of hospitals for the…
Why You End Up Somewhere Sometimes
byYou call someplace home, and if you think about it, there are probably one or two big reasons for that. Maybe you grew up…
A Lesson From Fred
bySix summers ago, a guy named Fred sat down across from me at a picnic table near Wonder Lake in Denali National Park, the…
A Bunch Of Dreams, One Film: The Making Of ’35’
byThis past Tuesday, a film called “35” went up on Vimeo — it’s 5 minutes and 17 seconds, including a ton of beautiful footage…
The Pure Joy Of Fixie Dave
byA couple weeks ago at a party, I saw Dave Nice for the first time in a long time. We started talking about the…